Monday, September 12, 2016

DISCUSSION: Higher Order Thinking & Cognitive Complexity

Most of the time when teachers are asked why they are teaching at the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, they suggest that students must understand the basics before they can tackle more complicated tasks at the higher cognitive levels. Unfortunately, many teachers never venture into the higher levels of student cognition. Enabling students to synthesize new information and/or revise their thinking about existing factual knowledge is a pivotal 21st Century Skill.

In this activity, you will discuss with your colleagues the concept of cognitive complexity as it relates to integrating higher level thinking processes in your instructional setting. Consider the questions below.

How can lessons be structured to help students move beyond basic content understanding?

What critical thinking skills will our students need to succeed as life-long learners?

As a teacher, how can I promote higher-level questioning from my students?

How can Bloom's Taxonomy or Webb's Depth of Knowledge assist in elevating the level of student cognition in the classroom?

You are expected to participate in this activity in one of two ways. You can either post your response to one or more of the above questions using social media with #HEATFramework or using the Moodle Discussion below. Either way, we encourage you to post ONE initial response and to reply to the post of at least ONE colleague. Since you have the option of posting within this Moodle course or by social media, this activity is set to mark as completed on your own.

33 comments:

Higher level questioning helps build critical thinking skills and needs to be happening in all classes. Kids are up for the challenge of creating their own higher-level questions after seeing it modeled by their teachers. I love the real-world connections that kids make when thinking critically, as well.

Higher level questioning helps build critical thinking skills and needs to be happening in all classes. Kids are up for the challenge of creating their own higher-level questions after seeing it modeled by their teachers. I love the real-world connections that kids make when thinking critically, as well.

Higher level questioning is obviously the goal. But it is difficult to get to this level when students are having a difficult time learning basic skills and background information. Being limited by high-stakes tests adds to this challenge. In an ideal world, we would have time to develop higher-order thinking skills instead of spending all of our time teaching mass amounts of specific content trying to prepare for these high-stakes tests.

I agree. Students often struggle, in math, with solving the most basic types of questions. However, I learned a strategy from a previous in-service where I created three levels of questions as an exit ticket. Students got to pick which level they completed. To my surprise, more students chose the level 2 and 3 prompts instead of just the 'easy' one.

Having students apply, analyze, and evaluate is important in sciences and can easily be implemented through labs and projects that have students look at problems and experiments in science. Labs can be set up that go beyond simply students following directions to come up with answers to questions but rather them come up with experiments and lab problems. If the labs and projects have real life value the students will be more engaged and more likely to analyze and evaluate. The problem lies in state standardized testing and the need to get through the content. Doing the higher order thinking takes additional time that may prevent getting through the required curriculum. I'm curious to find ways to get through the content presented using strategies that consistently utilize higher order thinking.

Basic content understanding could be taught outside of the classroom using a flipped classroom model. This would free up class time to tackle problems that require higher-order thinking skills. Students need to develop higher order skills to be successful in life. They need to be able to analyze and evaluate new material when making decision in their careers and life. Additionally, many jobs require workers to create a product, presentations, etc. Having authentic assessments that engage students can help promote these higher order thinking skills.

Higher level thinking is readily applied to science through lab skills and investigations. I think the struggle to get to that point amid high-stakes testing and a broad range of information combined with individual student challenges is where the challenge occurs.

I'm stuck in the balance of trying to help my students understand/master/cover the content versus creating lesson plans that include time for higher order thinking skills. As a co-teacher, I try to focus on targeting the students that have mastered a skill and asking them higher order thinking questions to help them reach the next level.

Students will need to be able to ask questions high levels once they get into the work force. A lot of work issues and life issues deal with having to analyze a problem and then evaluate and create a solution to real-world issues. Teaching students the proper way to interact with others in a productive way is a challenge that 21st Century Teachers need to address.

As a science teacher, higher level thinking skills are a must. The basis for our course is scientific thinking which involves many of the higher level thinking skills. Students analyze data and draw conclusions. The ultimate higher level thinking would be for students to create their own problem and then go through all the steps of the scientific method.

The application of higher order thinking can be easily applied in the sciences, however it comes with many challenges due to pace, student differentiation within each class, type of learners, and the students self-motivation to extend their own knowledge. This is then compounded by the pace of content driven by high stakes testing. Training the mind to think requires time and training, but often we are limited in both.

I believe students will often rise to the level of expectations. If they are given questions that require using higher order thinking skills, with the expectation that they have the ability to answer them, I think they will try to answer if they have a safe environment to try.

I use lateral thinking puzzles everyday to motivate students to think creatively - which many of them love to do- to solve a problem. When I forget or don't have time to post a problem, they let me know. I agree with yosts and they will rise to the level of expectations that we set for them.

I think it is important to remember that students at all levels can engage in higher order thinking. The more authentic the task, the more students will be interested in the topic, and the more students will naturally engage in the higher order thinking process.

Thiry - In government, moving the conversation from basic principles and ideas to real life application can quickly shift a lesson from lower level to higher order thinking and discussion. For example, after teaching the process of How a Bill Becomes a Law, students can track a bill that is moving through Congress while providing hypotheses as to the roadblocks the bill may encounter in the law making process. It is a great way to reinforce the basics, while providing real life application

Higher level thinking is used daily within the choral realm as students are striving to become ready for a performance. They must continue to ask themselves what can be improved, what is good, and how to reach the goal. Utilizing their lesson times allows them to not only be a singer, but become a musician that understands the musical language both rhythmically and melodically. They also go above that in learning the historical background of the composition.

There are a lot of topics that can be discussed in a personal fitness class that can lead to a higher level discussion on a topic. I believe more a topic is relatable to the student population the better the discussion will be.

Lessons can be structured to help students move beyond understanding by giving them a collaborative assignment which forces them to create and analyze their own work. The assignment should have some sort of significance to them so that they really invest in it. In the orchestral classroom, this happens often as students rehearse and evaluate their rehearsals. They set goals for themselves and for the ensemble, and they are constantly assessing themselves. Everything they do leads to a public performance, which is higher-order thinking as it brings what they are doing in the classroom into the community.

In an instrumental music classroom, the main goal is to help students understand how musicians operate, and what it means to work and function as a musician. This means evaluating their own performance for flaws and opportunities for improvement. Accurate self-evaluation is perhaps the most important skill a musician needs. Lessons like this should be structured in a way that they can evaluate themselves, devise their own goals and assignments, and receive feedback from their peers and the teacher.

Danner- The use of primary sources with all students helps to promote higher level thinking skills such as analysis and inferring. The students are able to make lasting connections between content and the works of specific authors. Lower level students will benefit from this activity also, reinforcing skills that will serve them in life after school.

Promoting higher-level questioning from students begins with providing good models. Giving examples and practicing this type of questioning with students can lead students to recognize higher-level questioning as a normal process.

Through Webb's depth of knowledge, having the students work to create their own original work to demonstrate their level of understanding takes the work beyond simple recognition and understanding. Instead, students must comprehend the content and then determine how to use that understanding to create something original or creative. A student must truly grasp concepts to achieve this level and so students who struggle would be apparent and need remediation.